Dame-Tsuna and the Sun God
by Ourliazo
Summary: Reborn is the Sun God with missing memories - most notably the fact that he has friends. Colonnello decides to 'borrow' the Sun because it's not kidnapping if you're pals, right? (Tsuna is the poor temple worker chasing after his most definitely kidnapped Sun.)
1. Chapter 1

Title: Dame-Tsuna and the Sun God

Summary: The Sun God keeps the village showered in warmth and light and makes the crops grow bigger than any mortal could. Naturally, their village incurs a lot of jealousy, but it's never been a problem. Until their God is stolen.

.

* * *

"Tsu-kun!" Nana calls out from the kitchen. "Time to wake up!"

A couple moments later her son is faceplanting into the kitchen's wooden floor. This would normally be cause for concern but Tsuna does this daily. Nana hums and keeps trimming the flower stems.

"Ugh," Tsuna grumbles, clawing his way up to slump against the counter next to her. "Why did you yell?"

"It's almost time for work," Nana says, gesturing to the sky outside the window.

The brightly painted wooden houses are slowly starting to glisten under the morning light, the cool temperature heating to a soothing warmth. People are starting to emerge from their houses and head off to work while the kids stumble sleepily off to school.

"Why is he up so early?" Tsuna groans. "Can't he sleep in for once?"

"We rise when the Sun God rises," Nana sings softly and continues with the next few notes of the village song.

Tsuna sighs heavily but leaves his mum to arrange the flowers in a clay vase and staggers back to his room to change. There's no temple uniform so Tsuna emerges with plain tan pants and a t-shirt. He runs his fingers through his hair to comb it and stuffs his feet into sandals.

"Tsun-kun, before you go," Nana holds out the vase with a smile, the clay full with bright sunflowers. "Give this to Reborn for me."

"You really shouldn't," Tsuna says but takes the present anyway. "His ego doesn't need any more help."

Tsuna takes the scenic route to the temple. The Sun has risen but the God is probably not out of his room yet so Tsuna has time. He winds between cosy houses dotting the sides of dirt roads and curves around the edges of vast farmlands before huffing and puffing up the steep hill to the temple.

The temple is large but it's the ridiculous decorations that make it look _huge_. It's one storey with wide pillars holding up a high ceiling – all marble and all carved with detailed little pictures, mostly flora like creeping vines and flourishing flowers.

Which is funny because Reborn despises beautiful nature. He'll feed bugs and snuggle with reptiles but give him a fluffy bunny and he'll drop kick it off the temple's hill.

Well…that might not be accurate. Tsuna hasn't even spoken to Reborn before – he's just one of the many who take care of the temple. He isn't even allowed to feed the reptiles wandering around so he's definitely not important enough to fetch the God coffee.

However, there are some things that anyone in the village would know. Reborn loves coffee, his lizards, and the three sisters who take care of him. Yuni is the youngest, Aria is in the middle and Luce is oldest. Those three women are the God's personal priestesses, although it's more like they mother him and he takes it fondly.

"Dame-Tsuna!" Nezu bellows. "You're late!"

Tsuna jolts, almost drops the vase, and cringes back when the man storms down the hallway towards him. Tsuna quickly places the vase down with the other village offerings near the wall and straightens up, trying to look obedient.

Nezu stops in front of Tsuna, far too close just so he can loom over the teen. "I told you that one more infraction and I'll throw you out of here!" Nezu is one of the temple's supervisors. He's in charge of the janitorial staff so he does actually have the power to fire Tsuna.

Tsuna gulps. He thought he could sneak in. "Um. We… we rise with the Sun? And, uh, so it took me a while to get over here because I'm not out of bed until the Sun is up?"

Nezu sucks in a breath, probably to start screaming.

Deep, smooth laughter fills the hall. Tsuna and Nezu spin around to find the Sun God sauntering towards them, wearing a sharp black suit with a random lizard perched on the brim of his fedora as always. Reborn isn't looking at them – they're too inferior.

Luce has a hand raised to her mouth to hide a smile, walking alongside the God. "Really," she insists. "It was so cute."

Tsuna and Nezu drop into a low bow and Luce finally notices them. She smiles sweetly and waves. Nezu preens under the attention while Reborn rolls his eyes and drags Luce away from the commoners.

Nezu straightens up when they're gone and turns back to Tsuna - but the teen has already escaped.

* * *

If Nezu can't find Tsuna then he can't get fired. Tsuna decides that this makes sense as he scales a marble pillar to the rooftop, using engravings of ivy to boost him up. He hauls himself over the edge with a groan and flops down, panting at the exertion.

Never doing that again.

He sighs and stays low, crawling to one of the many skylights cut into the high roof. Tsuna avoids the skylights that lead to usually crowded hallways or places like the kitchen and dining room. More people mean higher chance of someone looking up and catching sight of Tsuna.

They should clear out once all the reptiles in the temple are fed and only the cleaners are left. If Nezu doesn't run around yelling for Tsuna then maybe the teen can climb back into the temple and keep going about his duties. Nezu has lots of others to bully – he might forget Tsuna.

He peers down into a particularly large hole and spies an almost bare room with a lone hammock strung up in one corner and a blond man sleeping on it. Just as Tsuna is about to move on, the door opens and Tsuna pulls back, flattening himself to the roof.

The Sun God steps inside.

* * *

Reborn moves into his room and pauses.

There's a tall blond lying in Reborn's hammock. His eyes open when the Sun God enters the room and grins roguishly, blue eyes unnaturally bright. "Not a bad place," the stranger says. "I'm not surprised you've hidden here for the last few centuries."

"And who are you?" Reborn retorts. The village gets a lot of travellers, but none have the audacity to break into the God's temple.

The blond rolls out of the hammock gracefully, heavy boots thudding onto the marble floor as he straightens up. He's half a head taller than Reborn, with broader shoulders as well, and odd clothes like he's trying to blend into a forest.

Sun country doesn't make that kind of fabric – too much work or too expensive. Reborn simply conjures his own suits, plucking them from the air. Perhaps this human is simply very rich, but the thought doesn't sit well with Reborn.

"Who am I to bother the Sun God?" the man chuckles. "It's just me, Colonnello." He strikes a pose, hands on hips. "Handsomest man in Rain country."

"Why are you here?" Reborn deadpans, not in the mood to humour this man.

"I've come to greet the Sun God on behalf of Comsubin," Colonnello mocks before folding into a mocking bow. "My liege," he laughs.

Reborn crosses his arms. "Comsubin? The one city that's slowly sinking from how much rain it gets?"

The man's grin turns sharp as he straightens up. "Unlike the people here, Comsubin isn't afraid of a little water."

"Oh?" Reborn sneers. "That's not what hundreds of immigrants from your backwater little pond have said."

The two glare at each other until Colonnello looks away and sighs. "I need your help, baby. The place is getting slowly torn apart. We just need a few weeks of sunshine to rebuild sturdier. Now will you come with me to see my city?"

"Of course," Reborn says instantly. "Just contact my assistants and when I have free time they'll slot you in." Reborn flashes a smile and turns to leave. It's so beneath him to chase this mongrel away. He'll contact Timoteo to get rid of the pest.

A hand grabs Reborn's elbow and reels him back. "You can't go yet," Colonnello protests, somehow across the room from where he started. "Just listen to me. It'll take a week at most and then you can come back and laze around with your lizards."

Reborn narrows his eyes and jerks his arm away from the blond's hold. There's a noticeable increase in temperature as Reborn begins to become annoyed. "What are you?"

"Don't do that," Colonnello snaps. "I'm being serious. You're coming with me whether you agree or not, just make this easy."

Reborn scoffs. "I am a God-"

"So am I, Reborn," Colonnello says evenly. He stretches out a hand to the side and water bubbles out from his skin, streaming out and filling an invisible mould, before the clear water turns into the harsh black metal of an anti-tank rifle.

Reborn feels the sky shudder and droplets fall in a light shower even with his light still blanketing the land.

Colonnello spins the massive two-meter gun with one hand until it's pointed at the other God's chest. His grin this time looks a lot more feral. "While the rain may not burn like your light, you should still fear drowning."

Reborn shifts, muscles tensing in preparation. He didn't know there was another God. The people from Comsubin, were they keeping the Rain a secret? Or was it Reborn's humans that kept him ignorant…

How many more Gods does this world hold?

How many of them are stronger than Reborn?

Colonnello scoffs. "You won't even summon your guns? Let me warn you, I was far from stagnant in the centuries you've hidden away in your little temple."

* * *

Tsuna shakes in bone deep fear, curled up as tight as he can with a hand over his mouth to stifle the panicked breaths. He can hear worried cries from the temple below, and even faint screaming from the village further out.

It's dark.

It's so dark.

When Reborn hit the wall and crumpled, the light just went out – completely out, not like nap time when it's a soft shine. What if he's dead? What if the Sun God is dead and Tsuna just sat here shivering like a coward?

Reborn protects the village. He helps the crops grow and keeps the people warm and brings light. He's been here since the founding, giving them everything they ever need.

Tsuna squeezes his eyes shut and shakes because that's all he can do. It's quiet for a long minute but then there's a sudden burst of brightness in front of him. Tsuna's eyes snap open, hoping that Reborn is okay-

The blond is standing on the rooftop opposite Tsuna, blue eyes glowing in the dark. The light is coming from Reborn, slumped in Colonnello's arms. Sunshine pours from the God's temple and his broken leg. It drips down in molten gold and pools on the roof before spreading out to touch Tsuna's sandals.

Blood, Tsuna thinks. Reborn is bleeding.

The Rain God chuckles at seeing the pathetic human. "Let's keep this between us, shall we?" He winks at Tsuna and then he's gone, taking the Sun with him.

It takes a moment, but when the reality sinks in, Tsuna starts screaming.

* * *

.

A/N: I'm putting this up for now, but don't expect much else anytime soon. This isn't supposed to be a long fic but I'm world building so...we'll see.


	2. Chapter 2

Tsuna gulps, trying to focus on not hearing Luce's soft sobs, muffled into her younger sister's shoulder, but the crying cuts straight through to his heart. This is his fault.

The village's ninth leader, Timoteo, is still having a hushed conversation with his advisors. Most are nodding along with every word he says, scowling in annoyance. Tsuna's dad keeps sending concerned looks at Tsuna and then arguing fiercer. Dino, the youngest advisor there and liaison to the Sun temple, also looks troubled.

The torches flicker in the light wind. It took the village a very long time to drag these out of storage and try to make new ones. They've never gone without light before. The torches are relics from travellers moving here.

Timoteo clears his throat and the room goes quiet. The three priestesses are sitting to the side while the Ninth is lined up with his advisors at the front of the room. Tsuna stands, shivering from the cold, in the middle.

"Tsunayoshi," Timoteo begins. "Thank you for telling us, it was very brave of you."

"I-is the Sun going to be okay?" Tsuna can't help but ask.

Timoteo smiles gently down at the teenager. "We're going to bring him back, don't worry. But we need time to gather people for the job and that's where you come in."

"Me?" Tsuna squeaks.

"You've seen this Rain God," Timoteo explains. "If you go ahead as a scout, you can find Reborn first. It means that we can rescue our Sun much sooner."

Tsuna stutters. "I-I can't – I don't know how-"

"I'm sure you'll do well," Timoteo says, still with that grandfatherly smile on his face. "Go and say goodbye to your family and friends. A pack will be brought to you with all the supplies you'll need."

Tsuna tries one last time to protest but everyone is already talking, reasoning out who should be on the actual rescue team. Iemitsu walks up to Tsuna and leads him out with a hand on his shoulder. They don't speak until they get home, carefully picking their way across the pitch black village.

Nana meets them at the door. "What's wrong?" she asks quickly. "Is our Sun okay?"

Iemitsu puts on a grin. "It's okay, my love. Reborn went for a walk but he got a little lost on the way back!" he laughs. "And guess what? Our adorable Tuna-fishie volunteered to go find him!"

"Oh, Tsu-kun!" Nana says in delight. "That's wonderful! Here, I'll pack you some lunch." She strides away with purpose.

Iemitsu's grin fades and he looks at Tsuna, completely serious. "There's a restaurant in Comsubin called Takesushi. When you get there, find a man called Tsuyoshi. Stay there until I can get to you, do you understand?"

"Dad…" Tsuna tries.

Iemitsu grabs him by the shoulders and brings him in close. "Tsuna, _do you understand_? You can't stay here because there are a lot of people angry at you for…for not protecting the Sun even though you were facing off against a _God_ -" Iemitsu cuts himself off, still shaken. He could have lost him, could have lost his little boy. "Just – just stay with Tsuyoshi. Tell him you're my son and _stay there_."

"Okay," Tsuna says quickly, scared at how strangely his dad is acting. "I promise."

Nana hustles back into the room and Iemitsu pulls away, a neutral smile falling back onto his face. Tsuna accepts the food wrapped in cloth and then the hug.

A knock on the door comes next and Dino enters with a drawstring satchel. Tsuna tucks the food inside it and then starts walking.

It only really hits when he leaves the village gates.

* * *

Reborn wakes up freezing cold on a hard surface with a heavy body pressing against his back. His eyes snap open and he takes in the very messy bedroom.

There are racks lining the walls, filled with variations on the same strange weapon that the blond used, only in all shapes and sizes. Clothes are scattered over the floor and a door in the wall Reborn is facing leads off to a bathroom with several yellow rubber ducks sitting in random places.

The bed has a thin sheet half-heartedly tossed over a clear, freezing substance, the same element that the short chains connecting Reborn's wrists to the headboard are made of. Reborn is soaked through as well, from a sizable puddle on the bed where it dips towards the middle.

Reborn tries to move away from the body behind him but the heavy arm over his waist tightens and drags him back.

"Hrm," Colonnello grumbles and mashes his face into Reborn's hair. "Turn off the light, baby."

Reborn jerks away and twists awkwardly with the chains but still manages to plant a foot into the blond's stomach.

Colonnello goes through the wall.

When the Rain staggers back through the hole in the wall, Reborn is kneeling by the headboard, clothes dripping, a pissed off scowl on his face. The Sun is missing his hat, jacket, tie and shoes while his shirt is untucked. The Rain is missing everything except for his underwear.

"What is your problem?!" Colonnello snaps, rubbing his aching stomach. "Okay, you didn't even try to fight back so don't play innocent damsel with me, asshole!"

"Fuck you," Reborn spits out, furious, because he did try damn it. But when does a God need to fight? Reborn has never even seen violence before, much less thrown a punch himself. "It's cold!" Reborn blurts out.

"No shit," the Rain cries. "You melted the ice. It would have been fine if you didn't mess with it."

"Are you seriously too poor to buy a normal bed?" Reborn mocks.

No, focus. Don't argue with the Rain, he only feels so familiar because…because the other is also a God. Colonnello is a threat, treat him like one.

Reborn hauls back on the chains but nothing so much as budges even under his Godly strength. They're loose from the so-called ice melting but he can't get his hands out yet.

"You have your hammock, I have this," Colonnello retorts in annoyance, stomping over. "Lie back down and go to sleep, I forgot how bright it gets when you're this close."

Rain country is far enough west of Sun country that Comsubin stays at a nice, steady shine, only dropping to dim lighting when Reborn goes to sleep.

"Oh, you like being kicked around?" Reborn sneers when the other God advances again.

Colonnello becomes cautious when he gets closer. He takes a hit to the chest but catches Reborn's ankle as a trade off. He yanks and Reborn collapses onto his stomach as the Rain God pulls him taut across the bed, forming another ice chain to lock him in place.

Reborn lets out a burst of heat, sunshine moving under his skin like the lazy flow of magma, the brightness and hotness outside doubling down in response. All it does is evaporate the water on the bed because Colonnello's too quick to let the ice melt any further.

"Give up, baby," Colonnello taunts, clambering onto the bed to hover over Reborn. "You're in Rain country now, bitch."

The breath is pushed out of Reborn when the other God flops on top of him. "Get off me!"

"But you're so warm and nice to cuddle," the Rain God admits. He loves the coldness of ice but he missed having Reborn around.

The door slams open violently and a dark-blue haired woman in black shorts and a red crop top storms in. Reborn's eyes immediately go to the large burn mark scoured across the side of her scowling face.

"Tone it the fuck down," she snaps. "I'm sweating from _everywhere_ and someone's going to get heat stroke out there."

Rain country is wet, cold and wet. This heat, while people welcome the lack of rain and the slowly drying environment, also brings humidity as everything evaporates. Reborn is also riled up enough that the normally pleasant warmth has turned to harsh baking.

"Hey, Lal," Colonnello says happily. He's not feeling hot because his bed is literally made of ice.

" _And it's too fucking early as well_." Lal jabs a finger at Colonnello then stabs it at Reborn before slamming the door shut behind her when she leaves.

"She's my priestess," the Rain God explain to Reborn, sounding very gleeful. "Isn't she amazing?"

Reborn imagines Luce, Aria and Yuni all acting like that. Then stops imagining. Because that's terrifying.

Reborn continues to slowly increase the heat outside. This is far from the hottest he can get, but it's just a threat, he doesn't actually want to boil this city alive.

Colonnello mutters something uncomplimentary but rolls off the Sun and starts picking through piles of clothes on the floor for something that's mildly clean. "Fuck, fine, we'll get up at ass o'clock in the morning, whatever."


	3. Chapter 3

Dino takes Tsuna on horseback to the overlap between Sun and Rain country, which is a dense and very dark rain forest. The humidity makes him sweat buckets even though all he has to do is cling to Dino from the back of a horse.

Dino drops him off, lights the torch for him and wishes him luck before turning back. Dino wasn't even supposed to take him this far – not by a long shot. It's been maybe seven hours, switching the horse out twice at each outpost they encounter to be as fast as possible.

Dino was supposed to take him to the village gates at the very end of the farmland, which is five hours back. Rain is by far the closest to the village, Tsuna knows, and in fact it's closer than the other borders of Sun country, but he's not close yet.

Apparently, there's still a day to go on foot, through the rainforest then over a mountain and into Rain country proper. Rain is a large circular territory in the north, almost sinking into the middle of Sun. It also pushes out Mist, to the north-west of Rain, and a bit of Lightning to the north-east.

Tsuna trips over every stray root and flinches at every sound. Hard not to in this pure, unnatural darkness. He already dropped the torch Dino gave him and it went out, so he can't read the map anymore, but surely if he just follows the moisture in the air then he'll be fine.

Tsuna is clutching the unlit torch as a weapon with his back to a tree, trying to figure out if the rustling is wind or something that's going to kill him, when the sky inexplicably lights up in a wash of pinks. Even through the tree tops Tsuna is stunned by the beauty of the Sun waking up.

Tsuna sucks in a sharp breath. He's awake – Reborn is awake. The Sun is fine and he's coming right back to the village. Tsuna can just turn back now, it's done.

The sky shifts, slow and lazy, through red and orange and back to its morning softness in baby blue. Tsuna slumps against the tree and his legs give out, depositing him on the floor. Tsuna's God isn't dead - Reborn is fine. He's actually, really fine.

Tsuna laughs, slightly hysterical, but goes silent when the sky keeps changing. It moves to a sharper, stronger blue and then the light flares up. Tsuna flinches away, lowering his head from the painful brightness. It keeps growing until even through Tsuna's eyelids it appears blinding.

Reborn's in trouble. Tsuna…needs to go back. He can't help, he can't do anything even if he wasn't still hours out of Rain country. What can a single, very mortal human do in the face of a God? It's useless, he's just going to die.

Reborn might die as well.

Tsuna shakes his head fiercely. No, ridiculous, no one would kill the Sun, it would mean all the crops dying. The village trades with other countries, everyone would starve without Reborn…but would the Rain God care? Comsubin lives off fish, so would a God care about humans if they weren't worshippers?

Reborn is upset right now, maybe distressed. What if the Rain God is hurting Tsuna's Sun?

It's almost a knee jerk reaction when Tsuna stands, eyes still closed from the light, and starts stumbling despite the fact that he'll just hide cowardly if he ever sees the Comsubin deity again. At least he can say he tried by the end of this.

The light grows with the rising heat and Tsuna shudders at what it must be like at the epicentre instead of this far out. It eventually recedes again to a tolerable level but the sky stays a sharp blue as Tsuna marches on.

* * *

"Tone it down," Colonnello complains as the Sun steps out of the building and comes to a stop beside the Rain, both of them getting the full force of the heat.

Reborn's presence, even when he was unconscious, overpowered Colonnello's already drawn back strength. It stopped raining a while back, a rarity in this place, replaced with sweltering humidity. Reborn, content in the warmth, scans the new environment.

Comsubin is a floating cluster of water damaged wooden platforms.

Old buildings are multiple floors high, but only one storey is still able to peek out of the water line. The newer homes are held up by thick square supports with long flat bridges connecting one jigsaw patch to another. There are no major 'roads', just damp, winding paths wide enough for only three people side by side.

The floating city is surrounded by lush green mountains, short but enough to prevent any drainage, acting as a basin to collect the water Colonnello produces. The depth is maybe twenty meters here, in the middle of the bowl. The water is clean and clear, Reborn able to see the fish darting in and out of the vibrant plant life below.

The warmth doesn't upset Reborn but people have retreated inside the buildings. Their houses are dense and small, with glass in their windows to be airtight so they can suffer through Comsubin's usually cold climate. Nothing like Sun country's empty window frames and large, sprawling homes.

The canals winding between buildings feature a mass of different coloured boats; long and almost flat. Most of them float under bridges for shade, all of them missing an owner since people have retreated into the water to cool down. They stare up at him, wide eyed and fearful.

"Come on," Colonnello says with a wide grin. "I'll take you on a tour."

Reborn turns and walks away. He doesn't know where his village is but he'll just keep going until he finds it.

"Okay," Colonnello mutters under his breath as he follows. "We'll go this way then."

Reborn does actually reel back on the heat because he sees a couple of kids splashing in the water. He watches one man easily walk across boats like steppingstones to reach another platform so Reborn steps off a walkway and copies.

Colonnello follows easily, hands in pockets and a loping stride, like he doesn't understand Reborn is escaping right now. People wave to the Rain, call out sleepy greetings because it's so early, but don't approach. Strange, seeing as Reborn gets mobbed whenever he ventures from his temple. Then again, he doesn't leave often so maybe the people here are more used to the God.

Reborn hops into a boat when they come to a larger canal and the woman at one end with a massive oar just nods and keeps pushing the boat along. She smiles when Colonnello joins them.

The waterways become more crowded with boats filled with food – mainly marine life, but the people are just waking up so the chatter is quiet. Reborn jumps off the boat again when she stops and continues with the small bridges.

The further he gets from the centre, the more the houses resemble sandcastles being swept away with the tide. Half-built structures above show people trying to add an extra storey to keep away from the water line.

Reborn sees an open door swinging with the waves from how low the house is, the entire floor inside flooded, while a father helps his daughter pack for school. Some houses are half under, with makeshift tents on the flat roof for people who can't afford to build another storey yet.

Tilting, rotting, sinking.

Reborn comes to a stop at the edge of the last crumbling platform, staring out at the massive lake with mountains in the distance. He sighs.

When he turns back, Colonnello is smiling at him fondly.


	4. Chapter 4

Colonnello is lying across the bottom of one of the flat boats that's not really big enough for two grown men. He has one hand behind his head as a pillow with the other hanging in the water, his headband pulled down over his eyes to keep the bright sun away.

Reborn is lying on top of Colonnello's stomach, perpendicular so he can rest his head on one edge of the boat and hook his knees over the other to put his bare feet in.

The Sun God is shining brightly but concentrating it into this area, where very little plants and fish are. It's far off from Comsubin and any normal boat routes too. Wouldn't want to burn a human alive accidentally.

The water is boiling. Colonnello has to keep freezing a pillar of ice around the area to stop the heat from spreading to the rest of Rain country. The God is also using the currents to keep fish piled up in the deepest waters.

The water has already dropped significantly in the time Reborn has been working at it, now only six meters high at the lowest. Lal is busy ordering people around with rebuilding, this time on more stable ground, using the resources they already stockpiled as soon as Colonnello decided he could just grab Reborn to help.

Reborn watches clouds drift close hesitantly and then run away when they touch the pillar of light and get singed.

"The clouds are cute," Reborn muses.

"Hm?"

Reborn rolls his head to face the Rain. "The clouds are scared of me."

Colonnello hooks a thumb under his headband and pushes it up just enough to peer at Reborn with one eye. "Obviously."

Reborn raises an eyebrow.

After a long moment of silence Colonnello seems to come to a conclusion. The Rain starts to sit up and Reborn slides down until he's lying in the God's lap. Colonnello pushes his headband up all the way and leans back on his hands.

"I don't…know why you're acting like this." Colonnello huffs out a laugh, smile not quite genuine.

Reborn sits up too, pulling his legs out of the water and tucking them to the side. "What am I acting like?"

"Like-" Colonnello gestures vaguely up at where the clouds are bunching a safe distance away, trembling a little because they're too far from home.

 _Like you don't know me. Us._

Colonnello lets his hand fall back down. "Nothing. I just. I expected something different, that's all. I…heard stories of you so. It's nothing."

Reborn blinks.

"We should go back," Colonnello says. "The water level is fine now."

Once they fix Comsubin, they have all the time in the world to talk. There's no need to rush things, not as Gods. Reborn will be okay, Colonnello will help him.

* * *

Takeshi wades through hip-height water far below the sushi shop. He glances once more at the original house, just above the water, as he carries a stack of planks over his shoulder. The house is covered in coral and plants, the structure about three times as big as the sushi shop eight floors above.

Takeshi slows to a crawl and thinks again about exploring it, just quickly. He's still helping rebuild, no one will notice if he ducks away really fast.

"Takeshi!"

Takeshi whips around with an extra wide smile. "Yeah, dad?"

Tsuyoshi wades over, dragging the boat behind him that's full of support struts. And one person? A brunet, Takeshi's age, dressed in really light, breathable clothes and glancing around rather nervously.

"This is Tsuna," Tsuyoshi introduces. "A son to one of my friends. Take him inside, give him drinks to cool off."

"Sure!" Takeshi says happily.

He lays the boards in the boat as Tsuna gets off and then leads the other over to the rope ladder they hung down from the sushi shop. They climb up and Tsuna flops onto the floor after, panting.

Takeshi laughs. "It's not usually like this, with all the heat and the construction. Our God brought the Sun."

Tsuna picks himself up slowly and tries to even his breathing as he finally follows Takeshi inside. "Oh? S-so you knew about it? Before the Sun came here?"

"Not before." Takeshi pours some water for the guest and then brings that and some snacks to one of the restaurant tables to sit down. "But there were rumours, that the brightness in the sky was coming, carried by our God himself."

"But," Tsuna tries. "You know that the Sun God has his own village to watch over, right? If he's here, then what about his people?"

Takeshi just keeps smiling. "We'll give him back. We just need to borrow the Sun for a while."

Tsuna looks away. "O-okay. Um, where is your temple?"

Takeshi scratches his head. "I mean, I wouldn't call it a temple exactly but the barracks are at the west and that's where the Rain stays."

Tsuna nods slowly.

Takeshi taps his fingers on the table, excitement building. "Hey, do you want me to show you around? Give a tour of this place?"

Tsuna blinks. "I don't want to distract you. Everyone is very busy-"

"Not a problem!" Takeshi cries, standing. "Let's go, I'll show you how to play baseball!"

Takeshi grabs Tsuna and hustles him out of the shop. They climb down the ladder and start to make their way around the other side of the building.

"This is ridiculous!" Tsuyoshi shouts. "I'm trying to rebuild and you want to ransack my home for a Sun worshipper? What's your reason?"

Takeshi tries to backpedal, dragging Tsuna along by the back of the other's shirt but the Comsubin soldiers have already seen them peeking from around the corner.

"Are you a criminal?" Takeshi blurts out.

"No!" Tsuna squeaks.

"Then we probably shouldn't run," Takeshi reasons. "We'll just explain things to them."

Tsuna hesitates. And then runs.

Takeshi automatically runs away with him. "You said you weren't a criminal!"

"I'm not!" Tsuna squeaks. "Your God is the criminal! He stole my Sun!"

Takeshi laughs. "Oh, I'm sure it must be a misunderstanding."

Either way, Takeshi's dad said Tsuna was good, so that's more than enough for Takeshi. He grabs Tsuna's hand and starts weaving around houses to throw off the soldiers.


	5. Chapter 5

"Food," Colonnello says happily as he kicks open the bedroom door carrying a multilayered box. "The sushi from my country is great, try some."

Reborn, now stretched out in a hammock in the corner of Colonnello's bedroom, just rolls over and continues sleeping. He's tired after using so much power these days.

Colonnello drops onto his ice bed and starts unpacking the food. "Aw, cute, he made little sushi characters. Reborn, here, I want to see you eat the lizard."

"Go away," Reborn grumbles. "Get me espresso."

"Rain country doesn't import espresso," Colonnello says around a mouthful of food.

Reborn looks over his shoulder at the Rain with a sneer. "Filthy backwater country. Should have let you all drown."

Colonnello blows a kiss at Reborn but he's still chewing so it looks particularly disgusting.

"Gross," Reborn sighs, rolling onto his stomach.

Colonnello proceeds to chew as loudly as physically possible, mouth open with a lot of lip-smacking. He accidentally spits out some food onto himself though so he looks around for a napkin. There's one inside the lunch box labelled 'For the Sun'.

Colonnello pulls it out and shakes it around so it unfolds but then stops at words scrawled over it.

 _Please, Sun God, my son and one of your worshippers have been imprisoned. I don't know why but I know they are innocent._

Colonnello swallows thickly. Lal is a 'take no shit, give no fuck' kind of woman so this might be her fault. It most likely is considering he heard Lal muttering about guarding against people attempting to coax the Sun away before the job is done.

He looks at Reborn's back, down to the note, and then slowly starts to stuff it into his pocket.

"Why are you so quiet?" Reborn demands, sitting up. His eyes land on the scrunched napkin, his title visible.

"Listen," Colonnello tries. "I think it's a joke."

* * *

Reborn slips into the prison under the lowest light he can produce while still awake. It's a soft dusk that makes shadows lengthen, easily allowing Reborn to blur past the guards after they turn their back for a moment.

The prison cells are mostly underwater, even at this level, because they are deliberately built to be. Reborn pauses at the staircase down, the stone corridor covered in coral and muscles from being underwater for so long before Reborn came.

He slowly takes the stairs down into the hallway with the cells, staying alert in case the guards catch on. Or Colonnello recovers, which would be worse. The blond always seems strangely friendly but Reborn is still wary of him.

It's too dark to see into the cells. Reborn wades through the water and cautiously starts to shine. Just his body, the golden glow bursting from his skin simmering under his clothes.

"Sun!"

Reborn looks back to a cell he just passed. There's a brunet standing at the door, clutching the metal bars with wide eyes. He looks vaguely familiar. Someone who works at the temple.

"Move back," Reborn warns.

He grabs the bars and heats up his hands, melting through even as he shoves them outwards until the metal snaps off completely. The red hot bars sizzle when they hit the cold water.

"I'm sorry," the little human blubbers, throwing himself forward and clinging to the God. "I'm so sorry we let you get stolen from us. You-you were bleeding. I was so scared!"

Reborn pats the human a bit but then gives in and hugs back. Reborn really misses his humans and his lizards and this place is too wet and Colonnello is always too loud. Reborn wants to go home.

"Let's go back," Reborn murmurs into his little worshipper's fluffy hair. The water is low enough, these people can rebuild now without Reborn.

"Um," another human says from further down. "Could I…come out too?"

"Takeshi!" the fluffy human cries. "Yes, o-of course. God, I'm sorry, he tried to help me escape."

Reborn rips the bars off the other human's cell and they slip out through a 'back entrance' Reborn makes by kicking out part of the wall. They creep away and then climb up onto the wooden platforms and bridges to get out of the water and not make so much noise splashing along. Takeshi leads the way but the other human stays close, not letting go of Reborn's hand.

"You work at the temple," Reborn says at a whisper.

The human nods. "A-as a janitor. I'm Tsuna."

"Oh," Reborn realises. "Dame-Tsuna."

"N-no. No exactly. I mean I wouldn't say-"

"Dame-Tsuna, how did you get all the way over here?"

Tsuna opens his mouth to protest again but just shrugs it off. "I was sent. As a scout. To…rescue you?"

Reborn raises an eyebrow. "You could have tried a little harder-"

A blinding flash of lightning and boom of thunder strikes the boardwalk in front of them but behind Takeshi, throwing the three away from each other. Tsuna's hand slips out of Reborn's and they all splash into the water.

Tsuna breaks the surface and splutters, recovering in time to see a tall green haired man in a white coat land on the boardwalk, just behind the exploded wood, the edges still bright red with heat.

The man -a God- grabs Reborn from the water. Reborn struggles, the sky flaring up above them to a blinding intensity, far stronger than the lightning just before. The other God scowls. Lightning crackles along Reborn's body and the Sun slumps into the other's arms.

Darkness descends.

"Reborn!" Tsuna screams in fear.

Tsuna scrambles forward, splashing through the water and hauling himself up onto the platform, but gets cut off by a teen with multiple braids through his wavy black hair. The two bull horns on the teen's head crackle with green energy. A Blessed, someone given the power of a God.

Takeshi rushes forward to try and help, snatching up a long piece of broken off wood and holding it like a sword as he slashes at the newcomer. The other leaps back to avoid it, opening up a path for Tsuna.

"Go!" Takeshi calls out.

Colonnello bursts through the water underfoot and slams into the Lightning God, tackling him away. Reborn drops but another Lightning Blessed with blond hair slicked back snatches him up before he sinks too far.

"Gamma!" the Blessed teenager warns, dodging another swing from Takeshi.

Gamma turns and dodges back in time to avoid Tsuna's reaching hands. Tsuna brushes against Reborn's suit before the Sun is stolen away, Gamma blurring past and quickly becoming nothing more than a streak of light.

Tsuna shudders for a moment, something unfurling inside him as a burning hot streak rushes up his spine. He quickly shakes it off, grits his teeth and gives chase but a sudden cry from Takeshi makes him skid to a halt and turn back.

A normal human with a half-rotten stick fighting against a Blessed? Ridiculous.

Takeshi hits the wooden planks hard, his makeshift sword shattered easily with the strength of Godly lightning. Takeshi raises his arms defensively, but the blow never comes.

Tsuna kicks away the teenager and stands in front of Takeshi protectively, skin glowing gold. Blessed by the Sun.


	6. Chapter 6

Reborn wakes up in a hammock and everything blow the knee is numb. Two green ribbons wind up his legs, paralysing him. At least he's in a hammock, though, Reborn admits. Someone did their research.

The room is mostly made of metal and glass windows, a large dome with a huge metal pole running through the centre of the place as a lightning rod, directing the power through to the levels beneath. Everything is clean lines and smooth walls, not at all like the hand-built Sun country or the water-logged Rain.

Reborn has no idea what most of the machines in the room are and everything is metal, making Reborn feel a bit disconnected from nature.

The tower Reborn is in stands high enough that Reborn can see the horizon curve, Lightning country apparently just flat land with scattered metal spires to conduct the electricity. It makes sense to stay underground with weather like this.

The sky is bright now that Reborn is awake, but the lightning still flashes brightly. He can't hear the thunder, but he's not sure if the other God can control it to that extent or if the room is just that soundproofed.

Little clouds linger outside his window.

Reborn hands go numb when he touches the ribbons, so he flops awkwardly out of the hammock and drags himself around the room trying to find something to push the ribbons off or cut through them. Everything in here seems to be bolted down so he rips a few machines apart by only exerting a bit of his strength but the metal conducts the electricity and his hands still go numb.

The sky progressively gets brighter until the lightning flashes are nothing but weak flickers.

A portion of the floor slides away despite there being no seams to indicate a trap door and a tall green haired man, the Lightning God, rises up into the room on a platform. He's standing behind a hovering chair, so the ribbons are probably not coming off anytime soon.

Reborn wishes he could make a gun like Colonnello.

"Good morning," the Lightning says.

"Is it?" Reborn muses, sitting on the floor with a pile of scrap metal surrounding him. "Would you say it's good?"

The God rolls his eyes as he walks the floating chair over. "Let's not be dramatic, Sun."

"You kidnapped me!" Reborn snaps.

The God comes to a stop in front of Reborn, looking down at the Sun with a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps next time you should actually put up a fight if you don't want to visit."

Reborn breathes in deep and lets it out slowly. "I tried."

The God watches Reborn with sharp eyes. "I've heard some things," he murmurs. "Whether you're messing around or if it's true, I don't particularly care. So long as you want to play, I'm going to use this opportunity."

Reborn discovers that the ribbons are controlled by the Lightning, even at a distance, after Reborn hurls maybe half of his scrap metal pile. He gets in a few good throws, but fifty thousand volts is a lot to take, even for a God.

* * *

Tsuna sits at the edge of the wooden walkway and stares into the water.

"Tsuna," Takeshi begins carefully. "I have…a boat."

Tsuna blinks and looks to the other.

Takeshi scans the surrounding but Comsubin is still recovering, taking people to hospital and trying to defend the half-built buildings from the sudden gush of rain from their wrathful God.

Takeshi leans forward. "We can leave now, while everyone is distracted. I know how to get to Lightning country." He smiles at Tsuna. "You saved my life at the cost of your God being taken. I'll help you get him back."

* * *

"We're going after them," Lal announces. "Reborn is our Sun and we're not going to let that mad scientist have him."

Colonnello grins. "I'm already packed."

* * *

Reborn meets Lambo and Gamma and stares at the vast country of huge metal pillars. The lightning strikes at random, hitting the pillars and letting the green, crackling energy shoot towards the ground harmlessly.

In the ground, the lightning powers the hidden city, working the lights and railways and buildings. It's all sleek designs and white perfection. It's clinical and cold and the people here are the same. They hustle around, staring into their odd electrical books and never say a word to each other.

Verde drops Reborn into the hovering wheelchair and takes him to the private labs, chattering away about creating something to bottle the Sun. Apparently the people here become a little odd when they're forced to stay underground for too long.

As they pass, people seem to slump in relaxation and turn to Reborn, to the soft warmth and gentle glow. They stagger towards him strangely and Reborn leans into Verde to get away.

Verde scowls and ends up shocking everyone there by feeding his power through the conductive flooring.

"We'll take the secret route next time," he says to Reborn, ignoring the twitching bodies collapsed on the floor. "It seems that I can't take you on a tour for now."

Reborn spends the rest of the day bored out of his mind in Verde's lab, playing with the little helper robots half the time. (Smugly pointing out when he finishes the calculations faster than Verde can.) Verde just scans Reborn a lot mostly, then they go back up to the tower.

Verde helps Reborn into the hammock and Reborn thinks about breaking Verde's neck but doesn't for some reason. Verde isn't so bad, a lot like Colonnello really.

"Wouldn't it be better to keep me in a jail cell underground?" Reborn asks. "I could jump out of a window here. It'd hurt, but I could do it."

Verde slides a glance to him. "You like being up high."

Reborn blinks. That's true. He has a temple on the highest hill, he sleeps in hammocks far above the ground, and if possible, he likes to laze around on rooftops. But why would Verde care?

"Verde," Reborn calls out just before the scientist leaves.

Verde pauses at the hidden elevator in the floor.

"What am I to you?" Reborn asks.

Verde watches Reborn for a long moment, studying the Sun. He seems to come to a conclusion. "We'll fix that next," Verde says, his tone almost trying to be reassuring.


	7. Chapter 7

Gamma looks up when two teenagers -almost adults- crash through the window and land in the hallway in front of him.

The broken window lets in the abrupt crack of thunder that then rolls out into a low rumble, quickly muffled under another cascade of cracks. The window is ground height to the flat, rocky plains and spires of lightning rods spike up into the sky.

Gamma turns, ready to rush back into the room and alert the security but Tsuna blurs with how fast he moves, Blessed blood in his veins, and Takeshi jumps into the fray with a bamboo sword that hits too hard to been anything but metal.

It's not graceful, not at all, but Tsuna and Takeshi get Gamma tackled to the ground and knock him out after a good couple of hits.

"Well," Tsuna pants, sitting on the unconscious Gamma's back. "Haven't done that before."

"I have," Takeshi laughs, standing with his sword braced on a shoulder.

Tsuna blinks. "What?"

Takeshi shrugs. "It's a long story but it begins with a giant seagull-"

The door at the end of the hallway opens and Lambo steps through. Tsuna and Takeshi freeze. Lambo looks at the downed Gamma, looks up at the two intruders, and slams the door shut.

Tsuna scrambles up and Takeshi rushes forward to kick the door in.

* * *

Colonnello summons heavy rains to flood the large air vents that lead down to the underground city to announce his presence. Verde can get a bit caught up in his lab so Colonnello knows he needs to make a loud entrance.

Colonnello stands above a stable wave, Lal beside him and loading a shotgun. "What's the plan?" Colonnello asks.

Lal sneers. "Fuck 'em up."

The Rain God wobbles a bit, clutching at his chest with a hand. "I-I love you."

The rain grows to thick sheets even with the sunny brightness blotting out the lightning but not the roaring thunder. Colonnello and Lal follow the rush of water through the ground floor lobby and into the underground city proper.

The crowd runs from the flood but the water only follows Colonnello through, leaving the rest of the city streets dry. Verde's main labs are quite obvious, the giant floating metal orb hovering in the cavernous city sky, just barely attached to the very top of the underground's ceiling.

Colonnello summons a tidal wave at his side, the water rearing up and flaring out like wings. At the very last moment, he hauls a shield of the water over himself and Lal to block the bolt of lightning that strikes out at him.

The giant orb blinks into a huge screen and Verde's face appears, the scientist frowning. "The water should be electrified," says several speakers at once.

"I," Colonnello begins with a huff. "Am very proud of that, actually. It took a while, but I've figured out how to redirect you, so I don't get shocked anymore."

"Interesting," Verde muses. "Come to the lab, I'd like to observe this technique."

"Maybe later, I'm pissed at you right now."

"Why?" Verde asks, taken aback. "You were done with Reborn. Viper even confirmed it."

Lal turns to the Rain. "Viper is the Mist, right?"

Colonnello sighs. "Yeah. And if they're involved, this is about to get even more annoying."

Verde looks away from the screen. "Ah. Someone has broken into our Sun's room."

Lal throws up her arms. "You're useless!"

"You didn't keep him for very long either."

* * *

Tsuna and Takeshi march down the hall to an elevator with a whimpering Lambo between them, the lightning citizen unwillingly leading them to the room the Sun is in.

Lambo is nervously glancing down at the two millimetres of water currently flooding the hallway. It's not a lot but it's super suspicious, along with the loud crashing of water from before. The three of them splash along to an elevator.

Lambo scans his hand against a blank part of the elevator wall and the outline of his hand lights up. The elevator begins to move upwards rapidly and the top opens up, the elevator rising into a large room, half destroyed because it's been a week but Reborn hasn't given up trying to get out.

Reborn sits up in his hammock. "Dame-Tsuna?"

Tsuna drops Lambo's arm. "God!" He rushes forward and throws himself onto the hammock, basking in the happy flare from the Sun.

Takeshi drops to the ground, soon followed by Lambo. Tsuna slumps in Reborn's arms with no possibility of a struggle.

Reborn sighs and eyes the slowly spreading mist that encroaches upon the room. "Chaos. Nice day we're having."

"Is it?" the Mist God muses. A cloaked figure bleeds into reality and gestures at the sunny, raining, lightning scattered day. "A bit messy."

Reborn hugs Tsuna tighter. "Fine. Let's go, but I'm taking this one."

The Mist gestures vaguely. "Everyone can come along."

"I don't really need those other two," Reborn begins.

The world is already bleeding away.


End file.
